NaturEner To Move Wind Turbines To Protect Birds

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — A San Francisco-based wind energy company building a 126-tower wind farm on private land in north-central Montana has agreed to move 25 of the towers farther away from raptor nests.

NaturEner USA LLC and Montana Audubon announced Thursday the towers at the $400 million Rim Rock Wind Farm will be moved a half mile away from the Kevin (KEE'-vin) Rim, identified as a key raptor area by the Bureau of Land Management. Montana Audubon says the Kevin Rim has been known to harbor up to 60 active nests of 10 raptor species in a given year.

Montana Audubon said the company agreed to make the changes after they had started construction and at great expense.

The wind farm is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.